What Are CARB Compliant Generators?

If you are shopping for portable power generators, it can be confusing to be faced with the wide variety of labels for technical features and functionalities these convenient power sources come with. Among the many titles and descriptions generators carry, one is a source of much inquiry from consumers – what are CARB compliant generators, and how does this particular label impact generator usability?

CARB stands for California Air Resources Board, an environmental protection agency established in 1969 directly under the office of the Governor of California. Air pollution remains a critical issue in determining public health, and California in the U.S. is one of the strictest states in its implementation of air pollution guidelines to reduce air pollution and to prevent its ill-effects on both the humans and the environment.

CARB’s primary function is to collect a wide range of data on the many sources of air pollution in the country towards the goal of protecting public health and welfare, and safeguarding the environment with its various ecological resources by efficiently and effectively reducing air pollutants.

The Board is geared at sorting and evaluating the scientific information it collects to base its decisions in providing guidelines for the implementation and enforcement of these rules and regulations against air pollution, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide safe and clean air, and protect the public from toxic contaminants in the atmosphere.

All this regularly compiled information is gathered by both the state and agencies in charge of local air pollution control for storage within the California Emission Inventory Development and Reporting System (CEIDARS). This data is accrued to create an inventory of emissions and other pollutants, which the state uses to develop its air pollution control program.

Some of the noxious emissions monitored by CARB include various organic gases (ROG), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfuric oxides (Sox), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM). Each year, a summary of these critical pollutants is published in a CARB report, with detailed information on various sources of air pollution.

Among these sources include point sources, or fixed sources of pollution, such as refineries and electric power plants; area-wide sources linked to air pollution produced by human activity; and mobile sources, such as vehicles, trains, aircraft, ships, farm equipment, and generators.

On another level, CARB uses all this data it has in determining the best economic standpoint in its evaluation of consumer products in the market. Hence, you will often see “CARB compliant” in many portable generators for sale today.

Based on the Board’s emission inventory it updates every four years, portable gensets that meet the Board’s “50-state compliant models”, or CARB compliance, are deemed to be the safest backup power providers for people and the environment. This means CARB compliant generators are units that emit levels of carbon dioxide low enough not to be considered health or environmental hazards.

With the strict air pollution rules and regulations established by CARB, a lot of generator manufacturers are scrambling to produce the most health and environmental-worthy portable power generators as emergency backup power sources.

The next time you see the “CARB compliant” label on a portable genset, you can be sure it meets CARB’s standards as a clean, healthy and environmentally-friendly power source.